The answer to the clues may be found at the bottom of this column.
Teachers and Parents: Enter to win an entire set of Dawn’s nature books of one title for your home or classroom. It's fun and easy!
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Just read the clues below. They describe an aspect of nature—a plant, animal, mineral, habitat, or natural process. |
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When you're ready to make your guess about who or what I am, click ENTER NOW. |
Who Am I?
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Clue 1: I'm a member of the "dog family." |
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Clue 2: I live throughout North America in deserts, prairies, forests, and even in towns and cities. |
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Clue 3: You might hear me howling at night to communicate with my pack. |
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Clue 4: Don't let me trick you—I am NOT a wolf. |
Do you think you know who I am? ENTER NOW.
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Entries should be submitted no later than noon on Friday. |
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If you guessed correctly, you’re automatically entered into the monthly drawing for a set of nature books from Dawn Publications. |
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A contest winner will be announced at the end of September. |
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Throughout the school year, clues for a new Who Am I are posted no later than Sunday night, so you can use them with your class on Monday morning.Good luck! |
Brrr…It’s Cold Outside!
When temperatures drop, you can put on a jacket to stay warm or go inside and have a cup of hot chocolate. But what do animals do when it’s cold?
According to Planet Science, they’ve got three choices:
- Hibernate: Hibernation is like a very deep sleep. Animals, such as black bears, hide away in a den. Their body temperature and heart rate slow down. This helps them to save their energy. Hibernating animals wake up in spring when the weather is warmer and there is more food around.
- Adapt: Animals that adapt to the cold weather often change their appearance. They grow warmer fur or feathers and sometimes change color. Some animals, like the Snowshoe Hare, change color to camouflage themselves against the snow. These animals can find food in winter, even though there isn’t much food around.
- Migrate: Would you like to go somewhere warm for the winter? That’s what migrating animals do. They fly, swim, or walk to a warmer place where they can find food.
INSIDE: The Mystery of Migration
Going Home: The Mystery of Animal Migration provides enough information for a whole unit about migration.
The featured species offer a broad representation of migration: loggerhead turtles, monarch butterflies, manatees, ruby-throated hummingbirds, Pacific salmon, Canada geese, California gray whales, caribou, Arctic tern, and emperor penguin.
Click here for a pdf of activities about migration from the National Science Teacher’s Association.
OUTSIDE: Over in the Arctic
Arctic Animals have adapted to a cold climate. Students singalong as they learn about arctic animals and their babies in Over in the Arctic Where the Cold Wind Blows.
Use this activities page to choose one of the outside activities under “Let it Snow.” Illustrations in the book are made from cut paper art. Use these suggestions for using decorative paper to make animal collages with your students.
More COLD Facts and Fun
- Explore the effects winter weather and cold climates have on living things. Scholastic’s activities cover various student groupings, subjects and skills, grades, extension ideas, and assessment suggestions.
- Ms. Frizzle has a lesson plan about keeping warm in winter with insulation. Use it as a stand-alone, or with the book The Magic School Bus in the Arctic.